


I found it all on my own

by ohmcgee



Series: ohmcgee's mallverse [53]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Family Fluff, Found Families, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 23:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8642464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmcgee/pseuds/ohmcgee
Summary: Jason's just thankful Lois knows how to carve a fucking turkey.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanksgiving is bullshit, but writing about blue-haired stepmom Jay cooking for everyone is not, so. <3

“Bruce,” Jason says calmly, almost terrifyingly so, holding a package of rolls at him like he’s about to start beating him with them. “Seriously?”

“Jay. I didn’t --”

“I know you didn’t,” Jason snaps. “That’s why I’m standing here holding the _wrong rolls._ ”

“But these are --”

“Morning,” Harvey mutters as he comes downstairs, walking right between the two of them to get to the coffee pot. Jay huffs at Bruce as Harvey pours his coffee, moving around them to get to the cream and sugar, and Bruce looks to Harvey for help when he finally turns around to face them. 

Harvey takes a sip of his coffee then makes a face at the rolls in Jay’s hands. “What the fuck is that?”

“This,” Jay says, glaring at Bruce. “Is apparently what Bruce thinks people have for Thanksgiving.”

“Aw no,” Harvey says. “You gotta get those little square ones.”

“The heat and serve ones!” Jay says. 

“They get all hard on top, but then you slather them with butter,” Harvey nods, taking another sip of his coffee. 

Jay just looks at Bruce and huffs, then shoves the bag of rolls into Bruce’s chest. “I’m going to get rolls,” he says. “Don’t touch anything.”

Bruce sighs after Jay grabs the keys off the counter, then reaches over and takes Harvey’s coffee from him. “Explain?”

“Comfort food,” Harvey shrugs. “You rich fucks don’t get it. When you’re a poor kid Thanksgiving is when you get like, all your favorite things that you have to wait a whole year for. Your mom’s casserole, your Nana’s pie, all that stuff.”

“Sometimes,” Bruce says, stepping into Harvey’s space so he can set the coffee cup on the counter behind them. “I think you and Jay speak another language. One that I can’t ever become fluent in.”

Harvey settles his hands on Bruce’s hips and looks up at him. “Don’t be an asshole. That kid’s over the moon for you.”

Bruce reaches behind Harvey’s shoulder and tucks the tag of his shirt inside, lets his hand linger on the back of Harvey’s neck and bends down to kiss him because, it occurs to him, he _can._

“Yeah, yeah,” Harvey smirks, sliding his hand around to grab Bruce’s ass. “You already know you speak my language.”

About that time they hear Damian coming downstairs and Bruce peels himself off of Harvey, busies himself with rinsing out the coffee cup they were sharing. 

“Where’s Jay?” Damian asks, grabbing a muffin off the table. 

“Store,” Bruce says, sticking the cup in the drainer. “Apparently I bought the wrong --

“Well who’s boiling the potatoes?” Damian asks, mid-bite. 

“Well, I --” Bruce says, looking at Harvey, who just shrugs. “Jay --”

“Useless,” Damian mutters, tossing his muffin in the trash and shooing the two of them out of the way so he can get to the potatoes. “I’ll do it.”

“He knows how to cook?” Harvey asks as they walk out of the kitchen and Bruce just pauses for a moment to look back, watching as Damian fills a pot of water and gets the vegetable peeler out. 

“Yeah,” Bruce says, smiling. “Jay taught him.”

 

: : :

 

By the time Jay gets back from the grocery store, regaling them all with the tale of how he nearly had to go jail over the last can of cranberry sauce, Damian has already mashed the potatoes and is in the middle of mixing up a casserole.

“Grayson called,” he says as he adds a can of corn. 

“Yeah, I know,” Jay says, grabbing his apron and throwing it on so he can get the turkey in the oven. “They’ll be here soon to help.”

Damian shoots him a dirty look and Jason shakes his head. “Not _Dickie_ ,” he says. “God, no. M’s gonna help me out with the food while Dick and Apollo watch the game.”

“Good,” Damian says, placing a stick of butter in the microwave to melt it for the Ritz cracker topping. “Can Jon and his parents come over early or will that make you have a nervous breakdown?”

“Ha,” Jason says, stabbing Damian in the ribs with the end of his wooden spoon. “It’s cute you think that’s not already happening. Yeah, it’s fine. Go ahead and invite them.”

As soon as Damian heads upstairs to text Jon, Harvey comes downstairs for a drink and Jason wrangles him into chopping up onions and celery for the stuffing. 

“Dickie and M and Apollo will be here soon,” Jay says, pulling the turkey out to baste it, then shutting the oven again and scuttling around the kitchen to stir -- Harvey really isn’t sure, actually. “Jon and his moms are coming early too. Roy and Tim never make it on time, but Steph should --”

“Hey,” Harvey says, walking up behind Jay and putting his chin on his shoulder. “It’s just a day. Take a breath.”

Jay does, Harvey can feel the rise and fall of the breath he takes and when he lets it out, then leans his head back against Harvey’s shoulder. “I know it’s dumb, but I just. I feel like…”

“You have a family,” Harvey says, leaning in to kiss the side of Jason’s neck. “I get it. It’s not dumb. But you still need to relax.” 

“Relax,” Jason snorts. “I’m gonna have like twenty people here to feed and I have never cooked a turkey before in my life, my kinda step-kid’s boyfriend’s _parents_ are going to be here and --”

Harvey turns Jay around and kisses him to get him to stop thinking for two seconds, which works really well until Damian walks back into the kitchen to tell them Jon is on his way, stopping in the middle of the announcement to stare at them. 

“Damian --” Jay tries, but Damian just shakes his head and runs upstairs. 

“Oh god,” Jay says, starting to pull at his apron. “I can’t believe I -- _fuck_ this thing won’t come _off_ \--”

“Hey,” Harvey says, touching the back of his hand. “It’s okay. You do the food thing. I’ll go get Bruce. It’ll be fine.”

“No, Harvey. No. I should’ve --”

“Trust me,” Harvey says, squeezing his hand, and Jay just nods and sighs. 

“Okay,” he says. “Let me know if I need to do anything.”

“Of course,” Harvey says and heads upstairs.

 

: : :

 

Jay tells M what happens after he and Dick and Apollo get there, while he’s helping Jason figure out if the turkey is cooking right. 

“I just can’t believe how much we fucked up,” Jay says. “We should’ve told him, like, as soon as we figured it out. We just didn’t -- I didn’t want to --”

“Listen,” M says. “Damian’s a smart kid, right? Not an asshole?”

“Well,” Jay says and M just laughs. 

“You know what I mean. I think he’ll be alright, Jason.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jay says, peeking in the oven door. “I’m not so sure about this turkey, though.”

M laughs and shoves him out of the way. “Let me work my magic.”

 

: : :

 

Steph shows up after Dick and a little while after that Jon and his moms arrive. Since Jay’s busy in the kitchen with M and Bruce is still upstairs with Damian, Harvey lets them in. 

“Hey, come on in,” he says, opening the door and taking their coats for them. “Bruce is upstairs with the kid and Jay’s performing sorcery on the turkey, I think.”

“You’re Bruce’s friend, right?” Lois asks, giving him a funny look, and Harvey suddenly wishes he were anywhere but here. Actually he wishes he had a line of coke in front of him more than anything. He has no idea why he’s out here, opening the fucking front door like he has any idea what to do or say. He can’t even explain _why_ he’s here. What’s he supposed to say? _I had a mental breakdown and lost my license and now sometimes we all make out and I think it’s probably just pity but I’m really not sure?_

“Yeah,” Harvey says, giving them a blinding smile. “That’s me. You guys want a drink? We’ve got some wine chilling and there’s this, ah, vegetable tray thing --”

“ _Crudité!_ ” Jay shouts from the kitchen and Bruce comes down the stairs about then, chuckling under his breath. 

“Glad you could make it,” he says to Lana and Lois, and when he puts his hand on the small of Harvey’s back Harvey feels like he can finally breathe again. “You can go on upstairs and find Damian, Jon.”

“Awesome!” Jon says and sprints up the stairs to Damian’s room. 

“Everything alright?” Harvey asks under his breath as Lois and Lana head into the kitchen. “Is he gonna try to stab me with the carving knife?”

“Everything’s fine,” Bruce says. “How are you?”

“I’m great,” Harvey says, to which Bruce’s lifts an eyebrow at him skeptically. “I’m _fine_ , okay? Oh hey, I think more people are here.”

Bruce leans by him to peek out the window. “Looks like Tim and Roy.”

“Oh god,” Harvey says, leaning against Bruce’s shoulder. “Hide the breakables.”

“Lian’s actually very well behaved,” Bruce says and Harvey laughs as he watches Roy walk up the driveway with Lian on his shoulders. 

“I wasn’t talking about her,” he smirks, then walks outside for a smoke. 

 

: : :

 

When they finally get to the table Jay realizes he has absolutely no idea how to carve a turkey. 

“Ha ha,” he says, staring down at the thing on the platter with the carving knife in his hand. “It’s possible I didn’t think this out far enough. Huh.”

There’s a little bit of laughter from the table and Jason’s seriously pondering what it would take to just move to another country when Lois stands up and takes the knife out of his hand. 

“I’ve got this,” she says, giving him a wink and moving into his spot. 

Bruce hands him a glass of wine when he sits down, leans in and kisses him on the cheek. “Everything looks amazing,” he says into Jay’s ear and Jay can’t help but relax a little bit as he drinks his wine, sitting between Bruce and Dick, watching as Lois carves the turkey he cooked into beautiful slices. 

“Oh hey,” Dick says right before Lois is about to sit back down, nudging Jay in the elbow. “Remember how we used to go around and say what we’re thankful for? We should do that.”

“Dickie,” Jay sighs. He loves him, he really does, but sometimes --

“I think that’s a great idea,” Bruce says, smiling. “It’s been a long time since this dining room has seen this many people, so I think that’s what I’m thankful for. All of you.”

“I’m thankful Lois knows how to carve a fuckin’ turkey,” Jay grins when he realizes it’s his turn. “Damian, wanna go next?”

As soon as he looks over at Damian, Jay remembers what happened earlier in the kitchen. He’s been so preoccupied with getting the food and everything ready that he didn’t even have time to ask Bruce what he said, how he reacted. Right now Damian’s glaring at him like he wishes he could burn a hole through him. 

“Everyone here is _weird_ ,” he snaps. Jason can tell he has his fist balled up in his lap like he does when he’s angry because of how tense his shoulders are. He watches Damian look from person to person at the table: from Dick to Apollo to M, to Steph and Tim, Roy and Lian, then back to Bruce and Jay and Harvey, to Lois and Lana and finally to Jon. 

Then Jason sees Jon’s arm shift under the table, watches the tension slowly bleed out of Damian’s shoulder. 

“I guess that’s what I’m thankful for,” Damian mutters. “Next.”

“I’m thankful for Tim,” Lian blurts out before anyone else can take their turn, cueing awws from a couple of people at the table. “Because he is very pretty and he has the best clothes and because he said I don’t have to eat any green things.”

“Alright,” Jay says, trying to choke back laughter as Roy squints at Tim. “And with that, let’s eat.”

 

: : :

 

After dinner Lois and Lana head out, leaving Jon to hang out with Damian for a few hours. 

“You know what we should do?” Jon asks before they head up to Damian’s room. “We should play football. That’s what my Dad’s family does after Thankgiving dinner.”  
“Hm,” Damian says. “I’d rather play hockey, but my _father_ refuses to install an ice rink. There should be a football somewhere in the garage though.”

“Awesome!” Steph says, jumping up from the couch. “I’m in. Boys?”

“Heck yeah,” Dick says, dragging both Apollo and M off the floor. “You guys coming?”

“She can stay in here,” Jay says to Roy as he grabs a casserole dish from the table. “Go ahead.”

“You sure?” Roy asks.

“Duh,” Jay says. “But watch Steph. She’s got a mean competitive streak.”

After everybody clears out of the house to go play ball it gets pretty quiet. Lian talks to Jay and Bruce about the difference between octopuses and squids while they load the dishwasher, then when she starts to get tired she grabs her pink octopus off the table and goes into the living room, climbing up on the same couch Harvey’s laying on. 

“Is it your nap time?” She asks and Harvey just peeks one eye open at her. 

“Uh huh.”

“Do you want me to tell you a story?”

“Uh --”

“Once upon a time there was a very pretty princess who wouldn’t let _anyone_ play with their makeup...”

Harvey sighs and rolls onto his side, tugging Lian and her stuffed octopus up against him, listening to her story about evil princesses until he passes out. 

 

: : :

 

After the football game everybody takes off and Jay snaps a picture of Harvey and Lian sleeping with his phone before Roy picks her up. He gives Tim a bunch of tupperware containers with leftovers, gives Steph and Dickie a hug, and thanks M again for helping out -- and Apollo for keeping Dickie far away from the kitchen. Then he collapses on the couch, head in Harvey’s lap and feet in Bruce’s. 

“Not as easy as it looks on tv, huh?” Harvey laughs, rubbing Jay’s head for him. He just dyed it again yesterday, so when Harvey pulls his hand back there’s a little bit of blue under his fingernails. 

“It was amazing, Jay,” Bruce says, pressing his thumb into the sole of Jay’s feet. “You were amazing.”

“Mm,” Jay says, eyes fluttering as Bruce massages his feet and Harvey rubs his temples. “Where’s Damian?”

“Upstairs,” Bruce says. “He’s fine. I promise.” 

“Good,” Jay says. “In that case, can somebody carry me to bed because I just decided I am never moving again.”

Bruce just chuckles and pats him on the thigh. “I’m going to have to delegate to Harvey on this one,” he says. “I’ve got to run Jon home in a few minutes.”

“Mmkay,” Jay says sleepily. He accepts Bruce’s kiss goodbye when he gets up, then wraps his arms around Harvey’s neck when Harvey stands up with him. 

“You are so spoiled,” Harvey murmurs to the top of Jay’s head as he carries him up the stairs and Jason can’t really argue with that right now, just lays his head on Harvey’s shoulder and smiles. 

“Happy Thanksgiving, Harvey,” he murmurs and Harvey waits until they’re in bed and he’s wrapped around Jason, in sheets that smell like all three of them, before he says, “Yeah, kid. Back at you.”


End file.
